‘The View’: Meghan McCain Thinks Chris Harrison Was ‘Dismissive’ of Rachel Lindsay
The Bachelor host Chris Harrison recently caused controversy after his appearance on Extra with Rachel Lindsay. Harrison defended contestant Rachael Kirkconnell’s decision to attend an Old South antebellum party in 2018. On The View, co-host Meghan McCain called out Harrison for being “dismissive” of Lindsay’s concerns.
Chris Harrison is stepping down from ‘The Bachelor’ temporarily
Lindsay previously starred on The Bachelorette in 2017, becoming the first Black woman to lead the show. She now works as a correspondent on Extra. On Feb. 9, Harrison appeared on Extra and Lindsay brought up the controversies surrounding Kirkconnell on Matt James’ season.
“I saw a picture of her at a sorority party five years ago and that’s it,” Harrison said.
Lindsay replied, “The picture was from 2018 at an Old South antebellum party. That’s not a good look.”
“Well, Rachel, is it a good look in 2018? Or, is it not a good look in 2021? Because there’s a big difference,” Harrison replied.
“It’s not a good look ever,” Lindsay said.
Meghan McCain spoke out against Chris Harrison
After his interview with Lindsay, Harrison issued an apology on social media. He later took it a step further and announced that he planned to take a temporary step back from The Bachelor.
“This historic season of The Bachelor should not be marred or overshadowed by my mistakes or diminished by my actions,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “To that end, I have consulted with Warner Bros. and ABC and will be stepping aside for a period of time and will not join for the After the Final Rose special.”
On Feb. 14, Harrison’s controversy was discussed on The View, and McCain faulted Harrison for refusing to listen to Lindsay.
“It was actually really difficult to watch that kind of interview because… he’s incredibly dismissive of Rachel,” McCain said. “When you come at someone like Rachel in that interview like Chris was, and you’re not even listening? You have to listen. She’s a Black woman trying to tell you why this is wrong.”
Sunny Hostin and Whoopi Goldberg reacted to Chris Harrison on ‘The View’
McCain was not the only co-host on The View to have an issue with the way Harrison treated Lindsay. Sunny Hostin found Harrison’s comments to be particularly troubling.
“This guy is 50 years old,” she said. “And the fact that he was saying you’ve got to look at it through the 2018 lens and not the 2021 lens… I cannot believe that in 2018 he didn’t know that it was inappropriate to attend a slave party.”
Hostin continued, “I was really just horrified not only by the interview, but just by the way that he says he just didn’t seem to know any better, and again, it goes back to accountability. Can you now ‘therapy’ this racism away? Should there be no consequences for it? I just don’t know.”
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg also offered her own opinion, saying, “If we can’t get the people who run the country to recognize offense and what is offensive, how can we expect anybody else to do it?”
